Bow Down(7)
“Well, I get the fun jobs.”
“I don’t know. I got to wear a dress.”
She made a face. “Fuck dresses. I’m done with dresses.”
“I like them.” I laughed. “Though the heels I can do without.”
“Hard to kick down a door in heels,” Kasia agreed.
“How many girls?”
“Twenty.”
I nodded. “Good. That’s a lot. How many will join?”
“Five for sure. More later, I think, after we get them off the heroin. Bastards really fucked some of them up, Lou.”
“We’ll take care of them. I promise.”
“Did you find any support tonight?”
I frowned. “Not exactly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I met Wyatt Carter.”
“Who?”
I sighed. “He’s the attorney general for Illinois. Really powerful guy. Young and handsome, too.”
Kasia raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you describe a man as ‘handsome’ before.”
“Wyatt is. I think he can be useful.”
“Useful how?” Kasia asked, a small smile playing on her lips. “Useful for you or for all of us?”
I scowled at her. “My intentions are pure.”
“Your intentions are shit, Lou. Always are.”
I laughed. “Okay, fine. But I think he can be useful for everyone.”
“I hope so. Your father has some serious connections.”
“I know that. But we’re crippling their internet structure right now. I bet the compound can’t even lock its doors right.”
“Still on the computers,” Kasia said, disapproving. She thought the hacking stuff was useless, and wanted to feel the cold steel of a rifle in her hands.
“The computer stuff is giving us the advantage right now. It’s the only reason we’ve avoided them for so long.”
“Whatever. Let them come.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Go help the other girls. I’ll be down soon.”
“Hurry. Don’t spend all night daydreaming about your handsome lawyer.”
I threw a shoe at her, but it hit the wall. She closed the door with a big grin.
I sat down on the bed, sighing. I needed to get downstairs and meet with the girls, show my face, let them know that I cared and that I was going to help them. I was exhausted and had no interest in doing that, but it was part of my job. I was the leader, but I was also the inspiration and the cheerleader. I had to keep everyone’s spirits up, though nobody was keeping my spirits up.
I had to be stronger. I needed more power if I was going to remake this city, and I needed strength to get that. Each new fighter made me stronger, but it wasn’t enough.
I had to do better.
Maybe Wyatt was the way to go. Maybe he offered my best chance at attaining what I really wanted.
Just then, my phone began to ring. Surprised, I checked the name, but it was unknown. I opened my laptop, ran a cable from my phone to a USB port, and then answered the call.
“Hello?” I said.
“Louisa.”
It was him. “Wyatt. Didn’t I just see you?”
“I wanted to hear your voice.”
“I don’t recall giving you my number.” I began to run a trace program to find out where he was calling from.
“You didn’t need to.”
“That’s very resourceful.”
“I’m a resourceful man, Louisa. A very resourceful man.” He paused. “I want to see you again.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“Soon. Tomorrow night.”
“Why the hurry?”
“I don’t know how long I’ll be in town.”
“That’s all?”
“No,” he said softly. “I want to finish what I started. I want to hear you whisper my name as I take what I want from you.”
“What do you want?” I asked him. I was trying to stall for time as the program traced his location, or at least that was what I was telling myself. Truthfully, I was wet all over again, and wanted to hear him say it.
“Your body pinned to my floor,” he said softly. “Your dripping cunt on my tongue. I’d lap up every ounce of your juice and swallow you fucking whole. I’d bring you to the edge then pull you back, again and again, until you begged for release.”
“How can you be so sure you can do that?”
“I’d like you to find out.”
The trace was complete. I raised an eyebrow.
He was calling from the Four Seasons Hotel’s penthouse. He wasn’t even on a secure line.
This wasn’t a trick. He was really just calling to ask me out. Maybe he hadn’t figured out who I was just yet. I did use a fake name for my cellphone. They could have easily matched my fake driver’s license picture to my fake name and found me that way, which meant they thought my name was Louisa Jenkins, not Louisa Barone.